To prevent retail electrical appliances being stolen, an electrical appliance may be secured to the display or counter where it is displayed.
Securing the appliance with a cable chain lock allows a customer to hold and possibly try the appliance whilst preventing the appliance from being taken away. Such cable chain is relatively easy to cut and no alarm would be triggered by doing so, making this solution less favorable.
Alternatively, the appliance may be secured to an alarm system using a dedicated alarm cable. In such security system, one end of the alarm cable is attached to the appliance, for example by looping the alarm cable through an opening in the appliance. The other end of the cable is provided with a plug to attach the cable to the alarm system via a dedicated alarm socket. As with the cable chain lock, this solution allows a customer to hold and possibly try the appliance whilst preventing the appliance from being taken away. Removing the cable from the alarm system or cutting the cable triggers an alarm. Often dedicated alarm cables are found to be aesthetically undesired. Furthermore, dedicated alarm sockets are to be installed for receiving the alarm cables, which can be costly.
EP218281B1 discloses an anti-theft security system for electrical appliances to be connected by means of wall mounted socket-outlets to a power supply system. The electrical appliance is prevented from being stolen by inserting its power cable into the wail mounted socket and detecting the pins of the power plug being removed from the socket when the plug is removed from the socket. Disadvantageously, the electrical appliance may still be taken away without triggering the alarm, as long as the plug remains inserted in the socket.
There is a need for an improved anti-theft security system for electrical appliances that overcomes the above identified drawbacks of the prior art.